Nameless Hitokiri
by Lady Amakakeru
Summary: This about the travels of a girl with no name who was the Hitokiri before Kenshin, she runs into the Sekihoutai and ends up falling in love w cptn. Sagara but some tragedy makes her have trouble expressing her feelings. Don't read unless 13.
1. Deserting Hitokiri

Nameless Hitokiri: Chapter One  
  
Over time legends and facts will become intertwined, dates are forgotten, memories die, and storytellers grow old. Never before has the name been forgotten, maybe she never had a name to be remembered. She was the princess of nothing but at the same time everything was hers, still her name remains lost for none cared to recall her, instead she was banished from the realms of thinking minds. But her spirit still enchants the rivers and the grass where she walked allowing the natural world to flourish and carry her despite the restraints of time.  
  
~*~  
  
With every step she took her body protested, it begged her to cease the relentless pace she had kept since before the stars had faded from view the previous night. Her blonde hair hung at shoulder's length and formed waves that caressed her sharp jaw. She was without name and had been referred to as "Hittokiri Ansatsu Geijutsuka" a title for a manslayer. She had fought in the ranks of the Imperialist uprising but had left her comrades two evenings prior and was on the run ever since... since the incident... and now she was wanted as a deserter but for much more than punishment. She had been a fool, a fool to believe that she alone could change anything, a fool to not have been suspicious at a summons that was truly a trap. At that moment she wished, more than anything, to be away from the incident of the trap, from the humiliation, from being robbed of something she valued as much as her life. No, she had been robbed of something far more precious than life, something she should have protected. All she wanted was to sit down and cry, cry away her pain and frustration, cry it all out of herself until she had cried herself into a hollow shell that could survive on bread alone. However, her desires went unquenched in the way she supposed, instead her heart was to be mended at the hands of a man she'd never known until that moment of that evening as the sun sunk beneath the horizon, dragging with it all the color, blood, and tears of its reign.  
  
"Hurry up Idiot!"  
  
"Shut-up, you're the idiot, Rooster Head."  
  
"Cut it out or I'll beat you to a pulp!"  
  
These words were followed by boyish laughter as two young boys ran up the road headed in the opposite direction of Hittokiri. The warrior girl eased her grip on her concealed knife upon seeing a boy in a white gi with a humanly unsurpassed cumulation of brown hair that somehow managed to stand up straight and add a good foot to the boy's height. His companion wore a yellow gi and a red Ha'ori (that jacket thing of Katsu's) and had black hair that extended to his shoulders, both boys wore red headbands and Hitokiri recognized them as belonging to the Sekihoutai. She knew well that these boys posed her no threat but she predicted that the other Sekihoutai would be close behind and judged it best to avoid them and their clan.  
  
"Hey there, Sekihoutai boys, I am lost and require your assistance. What names do you go by?" Hitokiri called out to them.  
  
"I go by Sanosuke and my friend here goes by Katsu. How may we assist you lady and may we inquire as to your name?" The boy with the tall hair, Sanosuke, replied mocking a gentleman as his companion, Katsu, buffeted him over the head.  
  
"I have no name, I would prefer it if you would leave me to be on my way." Replied the girl holding back a laugh at the boys' juvenile behavior.  
  
"Shouldn't you be with your husband, Lady?" Asked Katsu his voice bearing suspicion, "Perhaps you could hold an audience with our captain to see if he finds your tale believable." 


	2. First Attempted Suicide

Nameless Hitokiri: Chapter Two  
  
Hitokiri found herself in the center of the Sekihoutai camp, bonfires blazed around her and cast eerie shadows of the faces of the troop surrounding her and suffocating her with their glares and sideways glances. She felt herself shrink into a grain of sand or a blade of grass under their fierce scrutiny as her heart raced with the fear of familiarity. She knew this, she thought that time's strands and boundaries had all been torn allowing more of the past torment, the brutal actions she had thought were left behind now seemed to be impending danger. Hitokiri bit her lip in resolve and said to herself in an inaudible voice, barely moving her lips, "This time will be different, I know your tricks and I'm fed up, I'll get revenge for what happened. I WONT play as your fool or be less human than a doll."  
  
"Are you troubled by, the crowd?" came a voice that couldn't belong to anyone grown, but the sensuality in it, the knowledge and compassion of that voice, it caused the girl to jump and her heart to flutter unfamiliarly. The voice that belonged to a young man with black hair cut at a sensible length but still obstructing his view and he wore the typical Sekihoutai uniform, he continued "If you dislike crowds I could invite you into a tent or somewhere else of your choosing?"  
  
Hitokiri was taken aback at the courtesy in his voice, the lack of commandment, the sweet and soft texture of his words, but she only scowled and gripped her knife in response and said, "I'm fine here, I'm not stupid or gullible, here I have an advantage of space. Here is where I'll talk to the Captain of your troop."  
  
The young man was taken aback but remained docile and polite, "I beg pardon, I should have told you earlier, but I am the captain, Captain Sagara, of the Sekihoutai." He extended his hand in greeting but the girl slapped it away flushed with furry.  
  
"How dare you treat me like a child, how dare you touch me! I don't need you to pretend to be a gentleman towards me!" She huffed to emphasize that she resented his courtesy as well as to calm herself.  
  
"I apologize for underestimating you. I have been informed that you require directions to reach a destination of yours. Would you also require an escort?"  
  
"I need only directions and I'll be gone."  
  
"Do you wish to accompany our clan; because we are headed in the same direction as your said destination?"  
  
Hitokiri glared at him suspiciously, "I said that I only require directions, what are you playing at with such courteous offers, what is your point."  
  
Sagara shrugged "I guess it's just because I've heard of a wanted deserter of the Choshu clan; whose description was a "female hitokiri of about five foot four with blonde hair" and you seem to fit that description. As loyal members of the Imperialist army we are required to take you prisoner and return you to your clan for them to inflict punishment."  
  
"NO! I'll never let you bring me back to them! I'd rather DIE than return to them!" She unsheathed her knife and slashed the undersides of her wrists with one swift movement (cutting your wrists is supposedly deadly). She collapsed momentarily from both stress and blood loss but she didn't hit the ground as she'd expected. Instead she found herself caught up in Sagara's arms, and as hell broke loose as people rushed around to get bandages for her she felt the blood stop pouring out as it was stopped by a red headband. It was that moment, in Captain Sagara's arms, with the Sekihoutai milling around, that Hitokiri felt an emotion she'd never before known. But she couldn't dissect her feeling as she, at that same moment, passed out of consciousness and into the dark world of her mind.  
  
A/N: R&R, I need three reviews or one Favorite's listing to update again. 


	3. The Hitokiri is Named

Nameless Hitokiri: Chapter Three  
  
Disclaimer: Let me tell you a storeeeee,  
Let me spin you a threadddd,  
But if I say I own RK,  
Then they will sue-oo me deadddd.  
  
~*~  
  
When Hitokiri awoke from her haunted dreams the first sight to greet her blurred eyes was the gentle face of Captain Sagara' as he carefully shook her to wakefulness he asked her "Are you well? You cried out in your sleep, so I was forced to wake you. What was it that caused you such displeasure in your sleep?"  
  
"Please, be so kind and don't ask. I cannot control my dreams, but I can keep myself from the truth in my waking hours." She shook her head to clear her vision.  
  
~*~ Later That Day  
  
Captain Sagara and the hitokiri sat at the river's edge and cast out their lines (basically they went fishing) and watched as Sanosuke and Katsu argued over just about everything a human can think to argue over. "Is it really true that you have no name?" Sagara asked with the fascination of a child.  
  
"I was never given one that I could remember, I was orphaned at six and my Sensei, Sachiko, raised me from six to fourteen called me "Apprentice" and had no other name for me." She shrugged casually, "I never gave the matter much thought, I guess it's what I'm accustomed to."  
  
"I should like to call you by some form of name although I only travel with you until we reach the Choshu."  
  
"Call me what you want, I'll never be delivered into their hands again, and we can't travel for a good few weeks as you have business in this area." Hitokiri tossed her head triumphantly.  
  
"Then I'll call you Shunka," He smiled a sweet innocent smile that made Hitokiri surrender a slight smile, "because you are like the mountain's flower that I must first climb a mountain to reach."  
  
"I'd prefer Yuki, because I am like snow, I look friendly but I'll freeze your fingers off if you touch me." Hitokiri smirked.  
  
"I thought that you didn't care. Oh well, how about Rin because you're so cold and unwelcoming to people." He laughed at her scowl and crooned "I'll let you call me Souzou if you will be my Rin." He guided her face to his and softly pressed his lips against hers in a gentle kiss meaning no harm; which was why her reaction shocked him. She delivered upon his cheek a forcible smack that caused red to rise in his pale cheek.  
  
"Don't you ever do that again, I DON'T want your kisses or sweet talk, you can call me Eiga (A/N: Eiga is a name meaning "Long River"), let that be a reminder that my heart is not easily won and may it help you remember that I HATE your kisses!" Eiga stormed off her cheeks the color of beets with outrage at his behavior.  
Sano and Katsu watched curiously as Eiga stormed off and Captain Sagara's expression turned into stone.  
  
"God, I'll never understand girls they never TELL you what they want, and she's especially nasty, what a waste of time." Sano exclaimed at Eiga's behahior.  
  
"You're right Sanosuke, I have much better things to busy myself with than a deserting Hitokiri."  
  
~*~ The Next Day  
  
The sun was at its highest and glared down mercilessly upon the Sekihoutai, Eiga had been given menial and discriminating tasks since sun- up such as cooking and laundry. She had finally escaped the labor and was swiftly making her way to the conference tent seeking out Captain Sagara. She felt she needed to apologize for her reaction to his affection, it wasn't like he had meant to hurt her in any way, it wasn't his fault she had freaked out. She burst into the tent and cried out "Souzou, I need to-"  
  
"You are to address me as Captain. As of now you are considered a prisoner of war and are to answer to us. Your presence is not required here, you should not be placing yourself in affairs best left to men."  
  
"I know of some meals that require cooking, why not go about a woman's work?" added an officer of the Sekihoutai (whose name is irrelevant) his words stuck Eiga as if they were physical blows.  
  
"You would be more required cooking than you are in a meeting, go busy yourself but be prepared to march early tomorrow, we are headed towards the Choshu." Eiga left with tears in her eyes and accompanied by peals of masculine laughter.  
  
A/N: R&R, once more, I want reviews. 


	4. Emotional Flood

Nameless Hitokiri: Chapter Four  
  
Disclaimer: If I owned RK I wouldn't write RK fanfics  
  
~*~  
  
Eiga sat by the fire preparing rice and soup as she had been told to. Tears welled up on her lower eyelashes until they gathered enough weight to glide gracefully down her cheeks and drip off her chin to saturate the ground where they fell. Perhaps he had never truly cared about her, perhaps the Souzou from the river was just a mask worn by the truly cruel Captain who had a hardened, severe face despite his youth. Perhaps the only reason he had pretended to be kind was to take away her sword and leave her defenseless and make her easy to push around. She held back a sob but it constricted her throat and forced its way out in a weak whimper as she went into a fit of shakes and covered her teary eyes despite her solitude. She felt alone and unwanted, as if the whole Sekihoutai troop resented and loathed her.  
Sanosuke observed her from the forest's shelter and punched a tree causing his hand to bleed. He only bit his lip, the pain he experienced could hardly compare to what he saw Eiga suffering. He felt guilty, it was him who had spoken out against her to the Captain, and in a way he had betrayed her. He saw now that she loved the Captain indeed, she loved the Captain as much as Sanosuke admired his diplomatic leader. Katsu appeared at Sano's side at that moment and rested his hand on his friend's shoulder. In a barely a whisper Katsu addressed his friend "You think we should put our hands into this matter?" Sano nodded solemnly, he'd see to it that him and Katsu restored Eiga and the Captain's relationship for good.  
  
~*~  
  
Eiga was kept at the center of the camp and was not provided with a tent for shelter, only a blanket, despite the signs of an approaching storm. Captain Sagara reminded her that she was not a guest, but rather a prisoner. "You do not deserve even a blanket, we could very well punish you before we reach Choshu, be thankful." Eiga saw the hatred and anger in his eyes and defiantly turned on her heel to find somewhere with less abundant rocks to spend her night. Just as she settled herself to lay down the first drops of a flood began to fall, kind and gentle as if trying to wash away the aches committed into her heart that were set there in stone. Once more tears filled her eyes and she felt alienated from the entire world as the ground became bloated by rainwater.  
Captain Sagara sat in his tent with his head in his hands that rested upon his knees, getting up every minute or so to look out upon Eiga. He saw her just standing still in the rain with the winds rocking her delicate form as if trying to knock her down. His heart cried begging for him to go out to her and just hold her in a warm embrace and steady her against the blasting winds, but his mind slapped him, just as Eiga had the previous day at the river. At this memory he became stiff with resolve to leave her out in the cold, just as he felt she had with that slap as a response to his kiss. He stopped looking outside not wanting his heart to win, not wanting to break before she did.  
By midnight the flood had resulted in waters that ran ankle-deep, it was at this time Eiga decided upon her fate. She set off to the river where she remembered a tree that stretched, in her eyes, into the heavens, but before she left the camp she paid a visit to the supply cart.  
  
~*~  
  
Captain Sagara awoke suddenly, and for no apparent reason he looked outside to where he expected to find Eiga standing, but to his surprise she was gone. Sagara, thinking logically despite the time, made his way to where the supplies were kept. He found Sanosuke unconscious with a head wound and carried the child to a slightly sheltered place and shook the boy to consciousness (A/N: yes I believe you can shake someone to consciousness in most cases) "What happened here? Where's that girl headed?"  
  
"Who? Oh, her, she said she needed some rope and hit me with a rock this big." He indicated that the rock was the size of his fist, "As for where she went, I have no clue. Why do you think she took a rope instead of food?"  
  
"Because food isn't what she needs at the moment." Murmured the captain, more to himself than the boy, "Stay here Sanosuke." The captain headed off at a run towards the river, the trees were strongest there and he knew that Eiga was searching for a strong tree.  
  
A/N: Yes I know that a fist sized rock could probably do more than knock Sano unconscious, but hey, I can't kill my sweet little Sano. Why does Eiga need a rope? Find out in chapter five. I need some reviews before I can update so please R&R, maybe I'll update anyway but reviews help. 


	5. The Ancient Cherry Tree

Nameless Hitokiri: Chapter Five  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own RK but I do own a CD of RK music if that counts for anything. OKAY I own nothing, I blame my Math and Science teacher who don't like me drawing in their classes.  
  
A/N: I don't have any good pictures of Eiga and Souzou at the moment since my Science teacher threatened to fail me if I drew in her class "any more" despite the fact that I was showing off a math doodle NOT drawing. Therefore I have no guidelines for this chapter.  
  
~*~  
  
Captain Sagara stood beneath an ancient cherry tree; he could see Eiga in the highest branches surrounded by a furious cloud of freed blossoms. A side of him said to let her do as she wanted, just to leave her there, he shoved that voice away with resentment towards it, loathing himself for that voice. He pulled himself up into the branches his hands seeking purchase as they slid against the wet bark, despite this factor he struggled on against the rain and wind, the slick surface and branches that sought to tear his flesh and keep him from his duty. He wondered, was this just a duty or was it beyond the simple bindings of his post. If he didn't care he could have just stayed in his tent when he saw her missing, he could have looked at the numerous trees and turned his back on Eiga one more time. It was during his climb into the treacherous heights of that ancient tree that he felt guilt for the way he had mistreated the hitokiri after she slapped him at the river. She had been right, he had no right to have kissed her, and she had had every right to strike out at him. It was as if that tree held a strange power over the Captain of the Sekihoutai, as if it had been enchanted years ago by some strange and ancient power.  
By the time Captain Souzou Sagara struggled onto the same branch as Eiga his soul was heavy with guilt, so heavy he felt that he would cause the branch to break beneath him. He saw that Eiga had refashioned her gi, she had torn of the sleeves and made the front split at the center so that her abs and the bandages around her chest became visible. Eiga had tied a noose out of the stolen rope and stood, entangled in the heavy dragging line that was fastened at her neck, farther out on the branch. She gave a forlorn look at Sagara and said "Good-bye"  
  
The captain, though he felt as if an equally heavy rope was hung upon his neck, leaped forward on the branch and clung to her as if she kept him from crashing to his death (which might have been the case) and spoke softly in the kind riverside voice that Eiga loved "If you jump we'll both die, I can't let that happen, I can't have you dead."  
  
"Shut-up, you've treated me like a dog and made me wish for just this since I rewarded your affection with hatred," Eiga steadied herself, "You've degraded me with menial tasks and cast me out of a conference insulting me for being a woman and prisoner. You've alienated me from everyone in my immediate location and you expect me to fall in love with your sweet-talk?"  
  
In response Souzou said "No, actually I expect you to push me to my death, but I'd like you to fall in love with me." He loosened the noose around her neck so it could go around his as well and entangled himself with her in the slack before he continued by saying, "If you want to die, at least let me die the same way."  
  
Eiga scowled at first, but his adoring smile made it almost impossible not to let a smile spread across her face "If I decide not to jump, how are we going to get down from here? You were dumb enough to tangle the rope more than it was, you got any suggestions?"  
  
Souzou looked down and replied, "I have no clue, I guess we'll have to just sit up here till someone comes around with a ladder."  
  
"Whaat!?" Eiga shrieked.  
  
"Just kidding, maybe we can untangle ourselves and climb down." He smiled, "But before we do that, maybe you wouldn't mind a kiss?"  
  
"Gee, you're pathetic, you have to ask for a kiss." Eiga laughed.  
  
"The LAST time I kissed you with out permission is what got us here in the first place." Souzou pointed out.  
  
"Maybe you should kiss me, more often then..." And so she allowed a kiss in his warm embrace realizing that if she could be forever in his arms then forever would be to short.  
  
A/N: I do not advise climbing into trees during floods, using a noose to symbolize undying devotion, or making out in trees. It's dangerous and you could sustain injuries, like dying. Yay I finally did a drawing for this chapter. R&R 


	6. The Truth

Nameless Hitokiri: Chapter Six  
  
Disclaimer: They say that education allows you to be happy in life, but somehow I don't own RK, just ten truckloads of homework.  
  
A/N: I got a review mentioning the thing I said about Eiga being a "trained liar to the core" I'm sorry I haven't brought that into play in this story, I just don't want Eiga to lie to Souzou.  
  
~*~  
  
Eiga and Souzou eventually got down from the cherry tree (through slipping and arguing) as soon as they reached the ground Souzou pulled out the gleaming dagger that he always carried with him and cut two pieces of rope, each slightly larger than his hand, and gave one to Eiga and kept one for himself. "After the river incident you chose a name to concrete that moment in our memories, I want something to remember how we were in that cherry tree." He smiled and so did Eiga.  
  
~*~ Later That Day  
  
The new couple strolled into the Sekihoutai camp hand in hand much to the surprise of the milling crowds of the Sekihoutai who had gathered around to greet their captain. They were hesitant when addressing Eiga, wondering if she had really gained the captain's favor or if he was just being polite. Many of the Sekihoutai doubted that their captain could truly love a deserting hitokiri, but an equal many expected a wedding ceremony to occur in the near future and hoped beyond all else that Eiga and Souzou would become happy newly-weds.  
  
~*~ At the Riverside (Later)  
  
The sun went down in a fiery defiance, the last rays, that pulled the blanket of color with them, set fire to the trees, the cherry blossoms, and the swollen river by which Souzou and Eiga sat together. Souzou, with the shadow of a kind smile playing on his face in the light cast by the moon, stars, and fleeting fireflies, met Eiga's gaze and softly spoke, his voice musical like the flute and noble like a trumpet, "Why did you refuse my first kiss here? Did it have something to do with whatever haunted your dreams?"  
  
"I can't tell you Souzou, it's just something I can't tell you, it haunts me throughout my waking hours; but the true malice of the memory waits until I sleep when it stops whispering and screams in my head." Eiga put a hand on her face to hide her crying.  
  
Souzou brushed away her tears with a gentle hand and said softly, "Can you just tell me, I won't like you any less if you tell me. I want to know what troubles you, why don't you trust me with your secret?"  
  
Eiga looked up at him with adoration, she wanted to tell him what weighted her heart but in a way she was hesitant to speak, "The night I left the Choshu something happened, I was summoned to my general's tent for a meeting of officers. Before I entered they required me to leave my weapons outside, when I entered I found my general and two other officers who I was to meet with. One of the two officers offered me a drink, and I accepted it, soon after drinking it; I realized that it had been laced with opium and I fell unconscious. When I awoke, I realized what had happened, I had been raped while I was drugged. That's why I ran away from the Choshu, that's why I swear that I'll kill the three men who raped me." By the end of her story Eiga was sobbing furiously and Captain Sagara placed his hand upon her shoulder.  
  
~*~ The Next Day  
  
Souzou summoned his officers to meet "We are NOT going to return Eiga to the Choshu!" He shouted in rage, "She had EVERY right to leave them, they betrayed her in the least honorable way! I have summoned you here to hear what you say on the matter!"  
  
"She's still a deserter, we are obligated to return her to her clan to await punishment, you shouldn't let your heart replace your reason." Said one officer who I shall call Kazuaki for the time being.  
  
"Sometimes it's best to listen to what you think to be right than to follow orders, Kazuaki." Pointed out an officer called Riichi.  
  
"If you don't turn her in then we'll be accountable for insubordination." Replied Kazuaki, "Is one girl really worth our whole clan's annihilation?"  
  
A/N: Oooh cliffhanger, what will Sagara choose? Now that he knows the truth of why Eiga deserted can he mend her broken heart?  
  
Sagara fan girls: Find out how our sweet piece of man deals with the girl he loves in Chapter seven.  
  
Lady: You mean MY sweet piece of man! R&R 


	7. Contemplation

Nameless Hitokiri: Chapter Seven  
  
Disclaimer: When I rule the world I will own RK but until then (or until I become rich) I own nothing but a computer and my homework.  
  
A/N: If you want to criticize my fic please say something good about it as well, I'll try to make changes to any historical mistakes. Someone gave me an incredibly long review pointing out the story's faults, I have tried to fix all the stuff you mentioned but I honestly think that if you don't like my fic you should go read something else, not try to rewrite it. Thanks for your feedback; I have addressed the Battousai name issue. Captain Sagara is not married while this fic takes place.  
  
~*~  
  
Sagara sat high in the branches of a cherry tree (not the ancient one) so he could be secluded from the world as he was enveloped in thought over the matter of Eiga, he knew that he was obligated to return her to the Choshu or risk the lives of the Sekihoutai. Maybe he could resign his post and elope with Eiga, but that would leave the Sekihoutai leaderless, he had no second-in-command so there would be some dispute over who took over. He couldn't be selfish and leave his troop for one girl, but he couldn't find the strength to return her to the Choshu. Why would the Choshu accept a woman hitokiri, it just didn't seem to make sense to him, if Eiga was strong enough to be accepted by the Choshu despite her gender she must be inhumanly skilled...  
  
"I've been looking all over for you," came the familiar voice of Eiga, "I can't believe you were just sitting in a tree." The girl swung into the canopy to sit next to him wearing a borrowed uniform (since her own clothes were ruined).  
  
"Why were you looking for me, I need to be left alone every so often to think," said the captain surprised and slightly agitated, "I need to be left alone at the moment to think something over a little."  
  
"I just wanted to thank you, for what you said at your meeting, I wasn't eavesdropping or anything I just heard my name and listened to what was being said." Eiga smiled up at Souzou who looked at her affectionately, "I also need to say that, you don't have to do this for me, I can handle myself. I guess that you should act according to obligations. It was my choice to desert my clan and, despite my reasons, I had broken protocol in doing so. You shouldn't pay the price for my mistake." She climbed down from the tree and returned to the camp.  
  
~*~ At The Camp  
  
While their captain was contemplating over how to handle the situation of Eiga the Sekihoutai were holding their own meeting. "It's quite obvious that the Captain loves her, in my opinion at least." Voiced one of the Sekihoutai, "He's a great leader, but I think he's having some trouble choosing between his duties and the hitokiri. I have come to the conclusion that-"  
  
"Oh shut up you moron, can you take any longer to get to the point? It's obvious that the Captain is torn and incapable of making a decision on the matter, I think that we should step in. Now here's what I propose we do..."  
  
A/N: Sorry that this one's short, I decided that I wanted a cliffhanger, you have to click the button and go to chapter eight to find out what happens (I'm gonna update no matter how few reviews I get). And once more, if you have a problem with historical inaccuracies just write your own fic (you should also stop watching RK, I must point out that the REAL Battousai was executed in the fourth year of the Meiji era). R&R 


	8. Grand Finale

Nameless Hitokiri: Chapter Eight  
  
Disclaimer: I intend to rule the world and once I do I'll own RK (and make everyone become Kenshin Worshipers) but at this point in time I DON'T OWN ROUROUNI KENSHIN! Or Geiko, or Express 1 creditors.  
  
A/N: I think that I'll have this be my last chapter, sorry Shaolin 10, no shirtless Kenshin, I'll write a special "Shirtless Kenshin" fic just for your sick pleasure. To all of my faithful reviewers I must offer thanks (for R&R-ing my crappy fics).  
  
~*~ Nameless Hitokiri  
  
Souzou hardened his jaw with resolve as he approached the camp; he knew what he must do. He'd probably hate himself for it, but he had to return Eiga to the Choshu. Even she had told him to do so, but he still resented his action, he knew that fulfilling his duty wasn't meant to be easy or fun but he had to accept his position. Putting self-preservation and enjoyment first was what created people like the Choshu general, Souzou realized that if he thought of himself, even in this matter, Eiga or people like her would end up being hurt. Then she was at his side, sharp and glacial, she was like a frozen lake. On the surface Eiga never seemed to waver or change, she was steadfast and cold, but inside there was life that was locked away and waiting for the spring to free it (A/N: yes I'm a total sap). He held her hand in his feeling a pang of guilt that he could not hold onto her forever.  
  
The camp was silent, not a whisper stirred the cool night air and not a single red headband was visible. The couple headed towards the bonfire that was kept burning in the center of camp. The mud surrounding the great blaze was churned and trampled as if there had been some sort of skirmish or event. Souzou detached himself from Eiga musing, "What happened here?"  
  
"SURPRISE!!!" the whole Sekihoutai burst out of the surrounding tents causing the Captain and the hitokiri to jump (into each other's arms) then one officer continued saying "Congratulations to the bride and groom!"  
  
"WHAT?!" Eiga and Souzou looked at each other in disbelief.  
  
"We've decided that you two should get married." Stated Katsu "And since neither of you seemed like you'd make a move until you're old and decrepit we decided to take the matter into our own hands."  
  
~*~ Later That Night In Souzou's (and Eiga's) Tent  
  
Eiga pressed her cheek against Souzou's back, every muscle of his perfect anatomy (A/N: *drool*) tense and alert, she held him close to her and counted the beats of his heart. He would always love her; he would always be close to her, to her heart. She sighed contentedly as tears sweet tears quavered on her eyelashes and she whispered into the darkness "Souzou?"  
  
"Yes?" he turned over to face her and brush the tears from her cheek.  
  
"I used to be lacking, but now I'm content, now I have... you."  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: I love happy endings, but I like outtakes on happy endings even more. So for your enjoyment I post some of the other endings I considered.  
  
~*~First Try:  
  
...Souzou detached himself from Eiga musing, "What happened here?" just then a Sekihoutai who was bleeding profusely crawled up to say something, but the words never passed his lips. Just that moment there was the sound of rifles loading and the three people were mown down in a gory bloody battle scene.  
  
~*~Second Try:  
  
"SURPRISE!!!" the entire Sekihoutai camp shouted in unison "We have great news."  
  
"You decided to force us to get married?" inquired Souzou.  
  
"No, but we just saved a bunch of money by switching to Geiko" boomed the Sekihoutai in unison.  
  
"But you don't have cars, it's the Bakamatsu period!" Eiga face-falls into the fire.  
  
~*~Third Try:  
  
"I used to be lacking, but now I'm content, now I have... your Express 1 credit card! Muahahaha!"  
  
~*~Fourth Try:  
  
"I used to be lacking, but now I'm content, now I have... seduced my second Japanese army official."  
  
A/N: Thanks for reading, please review. ^^ 


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